It's not how big the house is, it's how happy the home.

~Unknown

The four carriages finally came to a complete stop. After hours of traveling through the city of Ba Sing Se, The royal family of the Fire Nation was relieved upon reaching their final destination. The Earth Kingdom palace.

Out of the first leading carriage emerged a tall handsome man, all clad in red robes, lined with gold trimmings. His ink black hair was partly put up in a top knot pinned with a gold flame and the rest fell on his shoulders. He had a stern look on his face and his presence reeked of power, fear, and control. Beside him stood his wife in a similar attire. She had a slim gentle face, overflowing in kindness. Following suit were their two children. Their oldest son seemed to be no younger than eleven years old.

He had a stern but gentle face with fierce golden eyes to match his fathers but carried a sweet innocence from his mother. His sister was the exact spitting image of her father, all of her hair was pulled into a topknot, with bangs that fell on both sides of her face. She had a cunning fearless smirk that held determination and fearlessness, with her hands placed behind her back as she stood.

The other carts were filled with Fire Nation servants and they came out to stand behind the family.

An old male servant from the earth palace, in green robes and a hat, came forward and bowed.

"The Earth Kingdom is pleased and honored to welcome you and your family Prince Ozai, to our city. Follow me, the earth King awaits your presence".

Prince Ozai was unpleasant with the pathetic greeting they were being given. How could the King so foolishly, and not personally choose to greet them without honor? The fate of his Kingdom was held in the palm of the Fire Nation at this moment.

His dear, weak older brother Firelord Iroh had sent them on this journey, to negotiate new treaties with BaSingSe and Omashu. The remaining Earth Kingdom cities not taken over by Fire nation. Yet.

Following recently their late father Azulon's destruction of the Southern Water Tribe, The Northern tribe and the Earth Kingdom was now agitated. Particularly the North, after the loss of their sister tribe, they were choosing to live in hostility and isolation.

Azulon had planned to destroy the North as well, but his immediate passing halted his plans, which Iroh refused to follow through with. It had been almost three months since he took the throne and had no interest in continuing disputes. He sought for balance between the three remaining nations.

Sending members of the Royal family instead of an ambassador would send an intimate message to the Earth Kings about the Fire Nations intentions in negotiating peace.

Prince Ozai, believed in continuing the legacy of his ancestors, in the Fire Nation's power to control the world. This had begun with his grandfather Sozin's destruction of the Air Nomads and colonization of Earth Kingdom territories. While his wife and children were fascinated with the place, Ozai wanted to do what he came for and leave as soon as he could. He silently nodded at the man and followed him into the palace.

Red, all she could see was red. Her grip on her mother tightened as they waited for the soldiers to finish speaking to her. She didn't really understand what they were saying, but the solider seemed very impatient. Her mother, on the other hand, seemed on edge glancing at her frequently with uncertainty.

"Go get your father Katara" her mother pleaded slowly and quietly.

Katara quickly scurried away getting the message that clearly something wasn't right. As soon as she left the hut her thoughts were confirmed. She saw redder and this time, liquid red invading the beautiful white snow, sprawled with lifeless bodies. Men, women and some young boys were up in arms trying to get the raiders out of their tribe. Every part of her home seemed invaded, this included the red snow, to the big red ships at what used to be their fishing docks. Even the snow falling was not white anymore, but instead, a black soot fell on the ground. She spotted her father using the hilt of his blade to knock out the soldier who just tried to attack him. Glancing up he noticed his daughter watching him with fear.

"Katara what are you doing?! Get out of here and take cover!"

Snapping out of her daze she immediately ran up to him, astonished as to what she had just seen her father do. She then remembered the fate that might bestow on her mother.

"You have to come quick, mom is in trouble! There are - "

Her sentence was immediately cut off by a piercing scream. Katara whipped around, to see her mother being dragged out of the hut by two soldiers. By the look of the scene, it seemed like the men's grip on her was a burning one as they pulled her across the snow. Her mother looked over frantically struggling from their grip.

"Hakoda!"

"Kya!" Her father quickly brushed past her, running towards her mother. One of the soldiers immediately grabbed her father's parka and his fists collided with his jaw. Katara ran towards them as quickly as her legs could take her. What were probably seconds felt like ages, before she could reach them a wall of fire suddenly blocked her path. Fear overtook her as she watched the flames dance on the snow, tempting her to run through. She tried to find the source of the fire but it was nowhere to be found.

Mom, Dad.

She backed up and decided to find her brother Sokka who was on the battlefield. As young as he was he choose to fight along the warriors and tribesmen. Big fat tears began falling down her face and she ran through the bodies, violence surrounding her. Her father had warned her that the tribe was not as safe as they thought they felt. Even before she was born they had colonial officers roaming the tribes, making sure there were no sparks of rebellion against the Fire Nation, but that did not erase the tension.

Due to the cold weather, there were no Fire Nation settlers and with their benders captured, the people of the tribe thought it best to obey the laws they were given and stay out of trouble. Katara was currently the last waterbender, but her father made sure she never used her abilities. Not that she could, there was no one around who could teach her. She was only nine years old and her dream was to master her given art someday. It seemed like because of the FireNation, her given gift had been taken away from her. Now because of the Fire nation, her home and family were now being taken away as well.

"Wake up" A voice whispered from afar. "Katara wake up, we're here."

Her body soon became alert and her eyes quickly adjusted to her surroundings. She took a look around and noticed they were still in the same black metallic ship, which they had been placed in to escape.

"Welcome to the city of Ba Sing Se" The captain of the ship yelled across the deck.

She saw a familiar pair of blue eyes, looking at her with hardened concern. He looked away and then pulled her up and onto the deck. As they made their way into foreign land, they looked so odd among the people seeking refuge. Two water tribe children ten and eight years of age, stained with blood, scars, and burns. Lacking parents or guardians to guide them or comfort them after the destruction they had witnessed.

Sokka had not said a word throughout the whole trip until now. He was still trying to accept that he would never see his parents again. His home gone. His father was dead and his mother was probably on her way to a Fire Nation prison. Three months ago, Katara had called him to follow her to the scene, where the so-called firewall had stood. He had not seen a wall of fire when they got there, but by the trail of soot on the snow was evidence that it had been there.

They approached the scene and saw their father lying limp and lifeless on the snow, their mother wailing and being dragged away by those scums. He could still feel the burn mark on the top of his right arm that seethed through his clothing when he tried to attack the guards taking his mother away. It was such a sorry sight watching the struggle of a family, trying not to be torn apart.

Colonel Piandao intervened, placed them on a boat to Ba Sing Se, and took their mother with him to the Fire Nation. Sokka didn't think he could forgive him. He had trusted someone brought by the Fire Nation who's job was to keep them in line. Unlike their previous Colonel master, Piandao had been very lenient on the water tribe, he was not a firebender, so his anger was always in control. Calm and collected. He even taught Sokka the art of the sword, creating the false hope that perhaps
some Fire Nation people were tolerable. Instead, he had betrayed them, brought tragedy to his tribe and separated his family. On the other hand, he couldn't blame the man, he had to do his job.

The Captain of the boat approached them, right as they got off. Carrying something in his hands.

"Here, these are Earth Kingdom attire. The people here might be a little skeptical if they know you are water tribe folks".

Sokka nodded at the man and took the clothing from him. He gave the other tunic to Katara and they quickly changed behind the trees. They came out and the captain stood there waiting for them.

"You might want to get rid of that necklace and the choker on your neck son"

Sokka's frowned and he shook his head. The necklace on Katara's neck was the only thing they had of their mother and the choker he had made from the teeth of a moose-lion he and his father had hunted was all he had left of him. He also had his boomerang nicely tucked away from sight in his belt.

The Captain sighed and shook his head in sympathy.

"Alright, Piandao asked me to take you children to an orphanage in the middle ring of the city."

Both children looked at him in confusion. At this point, they were unwilling to trust anybody.

"Don't worry once we get there you will never see me again. I owe the man a favor." He chuckled. "It's a lucky thing that you guys are not going to be living in the lower ring."

The captain shoved his hand casually into his pockets, turned around and began walking. The two hesitantly followed him, with Sokka holding onto Katara's hand. Sokka did not understand what he meant by the "rings" of the city but hoped they could live a decent life in Ba Sing Se and move on from their past. If they were ever able too. He felt a gentle squeeze on his hand and glanced at his sister. She looked at him with sad yet hopeful eyes. He looked away and stared straight ahead. As they continued walking they approached some sort of deserted camp with a campfire that was not put out.

He gripped the water tribe clothes they had changed out of and took a deep breath. Once they got close to the fire, he tossed them in and chose not to look. Out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed Katara turn her head, and watch the flames consume their identity.

Both children were now the only family they had left.

A.N

Hi, a long chapter about 2000 words. Before you freak out, yes Azulon and Hama had a thing. Is history repeating itself eh?

Just a warning, this is going to be a long fic and will be divided into about three sections. So I am estimating about 50 chapters. (Maybe more idk)

Also, I am going to try and put at least two chapters per update. I like to binge read, so I know how frustrating it is as a reader when you have to read a chapter every six months then sadly lose interest. So I will try my best.

Anyways please make sure to review and tell me what you guys think.

Cheers!